Saturday, 29 March 2014

Just recently I have been suffering with dull, dry skin. I'm guessing it's because of the colder months we have just had (or the lack of skincare I have been using...oops!). So when I was sent the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum* to try, I was very excited.
Avène are a French brand I haven't heard much about but have often walked past their collection in Boots. Avène essential care offers daily solutions that are formulated with Avène Thermal Spring Water to soothe and soften the most irritated skin types. This makes they products sound very refreshing.

What they say about their soothing hydrating serum -"Get a highly concentrated boost of repairing and protecting power for your skin with the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum.
This intensely soothing and hydrating formulation is ideal for sensitive skin, or skin that is easily effected by stress, pollution, or irritation. With its high concentration of Avène Thermal Spring Water, the serum works to soothe and heal the skin with each and every application. This soothing sensation has a long-lasting effect thanks to patented lipsomes, which work to diffuse the ingredients gradually into the upper layer of the skin.
Added Glycerine provides deep nourishment, hydration and comfort for the complexion. The silky serum glides on luxuriously, leaving skin feeling supple, smooth and soft."

The serum is best applied morning and night, after you have cleansed your face and neck. I pump about a 5p sized amount onto my fingers and gently massage it into my skin. It feels lovely and soft when applying and it sinks into the skin very quickly, which is great as you can apply your moisturiser and makeup straight after. The serum is a silicone gel like formula, it's lightweight and feels really refreshing on the skin.
I have been using this for the past two weeks, morning and night and I have seen a difference in my skin. My face feels plump and the redness has been reduced. I also feel that it creates a lovely base for my makeup. Also as it's lightweight, I don't feel like it's clogging up my pores.
I'm always a bit wary of trying new skincare as I have combination skin but I had no problems with this and would consider buying it in the future.

If you are looking for a product to help your dry, dull or dehydrated skin, I would definitely recommend you checking out the Avène Soothing Hydrating Serum* especially if you have sensitive skin.
Or if you are looking for some new skincare in general, I would recommend you checking out Avène on Escentual as they currently have some amazing deals on along with other French pharmacy brands.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Hello readers, long time no blog! Well, it's only been a week but it feels much longer. Today I have an exciting review of a vegan nail varnish from the company FairyPants. Fairypants is an online company that sell clothing, jewellery, hair accessories and Vegan make up. They are about to release their new vegan nail varnishes and I was kindly sent one to review.

What They Say - "Here's the science behind what makes our Nail Varnish Vegan.
The first issue is whether the varnish is Cruelty Free. By describing cosmetics as Vegan, we sort of cover the cruelty free angle too - because we test on you guys (and ourselves!) our products are completely cruelty free. We ensure that all our ingredients adhere to our standards too.
The next is the ingredients themselves - we stick to a 'nothing nasty' rule, and as such, our polishes will be what is known as '5 free'. This means there are 5 really nasty chemical ingredients (such as formaldehyde) that are in most nail polishes, that WON'T be in ours.
Lastly, there are some polishes that contain animal ingredients - some red colourings are made from crushed beetles, and some 'shimmery' polishes contain fish scales to get that shimmery effect. Not so appealing now, are they!"

I was sent a nail varnish in the shade Rose. Rose is such a nice light pink shade with tiny black speckles. It kind of reminds me of a Cadburys Mini Egg, perfect for Easter! The nail varnish glides on like a dream and only needed two coats. It dries nice and quick which is always a plus in my eyes as there's nothing more tedious than waiting for my nails to dry! When dry, the nail varnish has a slight sheen to it, almost pearlescent which looks really pretty.

Overall, I'm really impressed with this nail varnish and if you're looking for a vegan friendly and cruelty free brand, I would definitely suggest you check out Fairypants.

Fairypants Vegan Nail Varnishes will retail at £3.99 and are available to buy online soon. Keep an eye on their media platforms for a release date.
I have also been given a unique code for my readers - enter 2014 at the checkout to receive 20% off your orders.

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

What They Say | "Bring on the brows! This innovative brush-on fiber gel adheres to skin & hair…creating brows where before there were none. It builds easily for thick, lush arches, thanks to a tapered brush for blending & precision tip for shaping. Available in two shades."What I Say | I have only started to pay attention to my eyebrows within the last year. I never use to do anything with them apart from giving them the odd tweezing here and there. But one day I decided I would experiment and fill them in with eyeshadow and from that day, I always have to make sure I do something with them as I love how they looked. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. So when I saw that Benefit were releasing a new eyebrow product, I knew I had to give it a try.Gimmie Brow is a tiny wand that gives tint and adds little fibers to the skin and hair. It's a two in one - fills in gaps and keeps unruly hairs in place.They say to use short pressing motions and to stroke the brush tip along your brow to define the shape. Then you comb through to blend and build your brows. I use this technique and find it works really well. It instantly adds shape and makes them look fuller.Gimmie Brow comes in two different shades - Light/Medium and Medium/Deep. The makeup artist matched me two Light/Medium and I feel this colour matches my eyebrows perfectly.

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash | First things first, this body wash smells ah-mazing! It smells of fresh lime with hints of vanilla and coconut. It froths up really nicely and I'm left with clean, soft smelling skin. I'm running low of this current bottle but will definitely be repurchasing this!

Soap & Glory Mist You Madly | I recently won this in a giveaway and I'm so glad I did. I had a bigger bottle of this last year and I love it. It's such a sweet smelling body mist and it's the perfect size to throw in your handbag when you need a quick freshen up.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb | This has turned into one of my all time favourite perfumes. It's a bit costly, so I only use it for special occasions. I've spoken about this perfume in more depth here.

Real Techniques Blush Brush | This brush is my most recent RT brush and it's the perfect brush to apply bronzer. I find that it's slightly too big to apply blush but for bronzer it's a great size to get a natural glow, without apply too much.

Monday, 10 March 2014

My mum bought me two eyeshadows in pan form for Christmas and I have only just got round to buying a lovely little home for them. I chose the 15 eyeshadow palette as I would like to eventually fill it with neutral shades.
MAC have such an amazing selection of shades and it's quite overwhelming when I visit a counter. If you have some eyeshadow recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

With this sunny weather we have been having lately (I'll try not to jinx it) I thought it was time to update my wardrobe for Spring! I'm loving the pastel trend at the moment so you'll probably see a few pastel items popping up in my next few shopping posts.

New LookAcid Wash Skater Dress - £17.99 | This dress will be perfect to wear with white converse and frilly socks when it's when warm enough to brave bare legs.Pink Boxy Top - £12.99 | I love the colour of this top, it's what instantly drew me to it. It has a waffle like texture and design and fits really nicely.Floral Shirt - £19.99 | It's unlike me to buy shirts like this, but I'm going out Friday night and thought this would like nice with my disco pants and a pair of black heels.

Primark

Skort - £10 | I've been wanting a skort for a while now and when I finally saw this one in Primark, I grabbed it. I love how a skort can be worn casually or dressed up for an evening outfit.

Barbie Top - £6 | You can't go wrong with a bit of Barbie! This is slightly cropped and I think it will look great with a pair of black treggings and converse.

Primark
Strap Top - £2 | You can't go wrong with these strappy tops. At £2 each they are a complete bargain and a must have for any wardrobe. I bought this top to wear with the pyjama bottoms.
My Little Pony Bottoms - £8 | I saw a few bloggers posting Instagram photos of these. I love anything cute like this and thought these would be perfect for those chill out days.
Floral Slippers - £2 Cream Slippers - £3 | My feet get so cold this time of year, so I decided to pick up a couple of pairs of these slipper socks. I really like these ones as they have the grippy bits on the bottom.
Clips - £1.50 | These clips are small and cute. I normally use these clips when I just want to scrap the sides of my hair up and out of the way.
Pastel Hair Bands - £1 | I go through hairbands quite quickly so getting a pack of 50 for only £1 is great. I love the colour of these.
Sunglasses - £2 each | I always buy Primark glasses in the Summer as I find I always either loose them or break them. I bought two pairs, one to keep in my car and one in my handbag.

Glamourous
Blue Jumper - £25 | This was actually from a little boutique in my local town. I love the colour and it's such a nice knit. I think it will be perfect for those cooler Spring days.TopshopGingham Leggings - £22 | Now I'm not normally one for checked items of clothing, but when I saw these I fell in love. When trying these on, I rolled the bottom of the legs up a little bit and thought it looked really nice. The print actually reminds me of my old primary school Summer dress.

BenefitGimmie Brow - £17.50 | I have seen a far few reviews pop up in March about Benefit's new product, Gimmie Brow. After seeing before and after pictures, I decided to pick it up. The lovely makeup artist at Benefit applied this on my brows and I saw an instant difference. I will be reviewing this soon so keep your eyes peeled.Hello Flawless Foundation - £25.50 | This is another product I have seen plenty reviews off and has been on my wishlist for a while. I can't to try it out and will be sure to let you know how I get on.

As I bought two items from Benefit (one being the Gimmie Brow), I got to choose from a tote bag or a small makeup bag. I decided on the tote bag as I will get more use out of it. Also Debenhams had 10% off beauty and fragrance, and I had £5 on my beauty card, so I saved myself so money which is always good! Oh, and the mua threw in a few samples for me to try!

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

"OMG, I love your tee, where did you get it?"As soon as I saw this top a week or so back, I knew I had to have it. Being a big lover of the film Mean Girls, I instantly started my hunt for it over on eBay. Straight away I found this one for only £7.99 (which is actually one of the cheapest on there. "I know right?"). It arrived pretty quickly and had free delivery.
The t-shirt is basically a plain white tee with the quote "YOU CAN'T SIT WITH US' ironed on. The tee itself feels nice and soft but it will be interesting to see how long the lettering lasts. I ordered it in a size medium and when it arrived I thought it was going to be too big. But once I had tried it on, I really liked how it fitted as I was able to tuck it into my treggings and fold the edge of the sleeves up.

Monday, 3 March 2014

Just a quick post from me today but it's an exciting one!
I've nearly been blogging for 2 years and have wanted my own blog domain for a while now and today I finally took the plunge! The lovely Kal from ClutteredCloset tweeted me with a VERY helpful link on a post she had written, on how to go about the whole process! She explained it very clearly and without this blogpost I don't think I would of been able to do it.
The hardest thing was deciding on a name, but with the help of mum and a few twitter followers, we decided on www.emgrace.co.uk I'm very excited and I think it looks quite professional!

I would hate to loose any of my followers on the change, so please click below to see if you're still following with bloglovin but please bare with as I have just contacted them to move the followers over :)

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Morning you lovely people. Well aren't I glad it's the weekend. I have had such a hard, busy week and I'm so happy it's over.
Today I have another makeup remover review for you. I'm going to be reviewing the Garnier express 2 in 1 eye make-up remover.
I don't normally use a separate eye remover as I tend to use a cleanser all over my face to remover my makeup, but when I picked up the Garnier Micellar Water, review here, I noticed this next to it and decided to pick it up too.

What They Say - "Garnier's biphase eye makeup remover has a double action formula to efficiently remove eye makeup (even waterproof), without the need to rub.

Enriched with Arginine, it cares for your lashes by leaving a protective layer on them, resulting in visibly less lashes on the cotton pad.
Shake the bottle: the 2 phases mix perfectly. Apply a few drops to a cotton pad and hold against your eyes for a few seconds to allow makeup to dissolve. Then gently wipe away, starting at the inner corner of your eye, moving outwards. The formula is suitable for contact lens wearers."

As you can see above the remover is composed of two separate liquids, the top is of a purple colour and the bottom is a clear liquid. Before use, you have to shake it to combine the liquids. When shaken the liquid turns purple and you're ready to use it. I squeeze some onto a cotton wool pad, hold it on my eye and then gently sweep it away. I continue to do this until all the eye makeup has been removed. I use two pads, one for each eye and find that is all I need.

The remover doesn't leave a residue but actually leaves the skin around my eye area feeling soft.

This is a really quick and simple way to remove my eye makeup and I'm quite impressed. I think I will repurchase as it's a nice product to have in my skincare collection.

The Garnier Express 2 In 1 Eye Make-Up Remover retails at £3.50 and can be purchased here.